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What To Look For When Buying Workout Pants

April 24, 2017

Both pants are printed, but only 1 is good for weight lifting.

Wearing the right workout clothing can make or break your workout. Cycling, yoga, running, weight lifting, each of these activities has a different need to consider. Cycling pants are most comfortable when the material has vents and moisture wicking properties and the fit is tight so as not to get caught on pedals. Yoga pants require stretch and to fit close to the body along with a waistband that will stay in place when performing poses. Running pants should have a snug fit, moisture wicking properties, and reflective marks to be seen when on the road.

Then there’s my personal favorite type of pants to shop for—weight lifting. And as with other activities, pants for weight lifting have special needs to consider. If you go to the gym sooner or later you’ll see what I’m talking about. A girl is wearing a pair of pants that look great when she walks around but when she does squats, lunges, or any other bending and lifting move all you see is her thong—eek!

To prevent this when I shop for workout pants the most important feature that I look for is if the pants can pass the squat test. The squat test is exactly as it sounds. I look in the mirror in the dressing room and do a full squat. Pants that pass the squat test won’t show my thong when I squat. The pants that do go back on the rack.

But what if you don’t have time to try on pants?

When I don’t have time to try something on, I can mimic the stretch from the doing a squat by pulling on the fabric. When the fabric shows white when pulled, the pants can’t handle the stretch and pull from a squat. Those are the pants that will show your underwear when lifting weights. The pants that don’t show white when pulled will perform just fine, no thong displays to worry about when weight lifting. For a demonstration, check out the video found on both my instagram and my facebook pages.

When the clothes are comfortable and appropriate for the activity you do, you can spend your time focusing on what matters most, getting in a good workout. Next time you shop for workout pants give the squat test a try!